Plot
The second feature from director Michel Gondry (Human Nature) finds the filmmaker reteaming with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman for this off-the-wall romantic comedy. Jim Carrey stars as Joel Barish, a man who is informed that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has had her memories of their relationship erased from her brain via an experimental procedure performed by Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). Not to be outdone, Joel decides to have the same procedure done to himself. As Mierzwiak's bumbling underlings Stan (Mark Ruffalo) and Patrick (Elijah Wood) perform the operation on Joel -- over the course of an evening, in his apartment -- Joel struggles in his own mind to save the memories of Clementine from being deleted. Kirsten Dunst, David Cross, and Jane Adams also star. ~ Matthew Tobey, RoviReview
At once scathingly unsentimental and thrillingly romantic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the perfect date movie for smart couples. The film offers further evidence of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's amazing talent for generating intense emotional investment from seemingly absurd situations, and visual fantasist Michel Gondry shows here (as he failed to do in his first collaboration with Kaufman, Human Nature) that he is the perfect director to bring the screenwriter's brilliant, twisted, solipsistic vision to life. Gondry's visual inventiveness matches Kaufman's enjoyably offbeat conceit. In the film's jaw-dropping centerpiece, Gondry and Kaufman literally deconstruct the typical romantic comedy "falling in love" montage, as the technicians of Lacuna work on Joel's (Jim Carrey) brain, erasing the high and low points of his relationship with Clementine (Kate Winslet) as fast as he can remember them. While there's a surface similarity here to the chase through John Malkovich's subconscious in Being John Malkovich, the emotional stakes here are higher, as Joel has a change of heart during the procedure, and, aided by his own mind's version of Clementine, frantically tries to preserve a memory of her, eventually going to comically desperate lengths. Gondry surprises us again and again with the images he conjures from Kaufman's labyrinthine script. In Human Nature, it often seemed as though the filmmakers were holding the bizarre characters up to ridicule, but Eternal Sunshine is, at its core, generous and humane. We can't help but empathize with Joel's yearning or fall for Clementine's passion and confusion. The film is so generously overstuffed with ideas and jokes that it demands repeat viewing. Capturing the joys and pains of romantic obsession as few filmmakers have before, Gondry and Kaufman have come up with a masterpiece. ~ Josh Ralske, RoviCast
- Jim Carrey - Joel Barish
- Kate Winslet - Clementine Kruczynski
- Tom Wilkinson - Dr. Howard Mierzwiak
- Mark Ruffalo - Stan
- Kirsten Dunst - Mary
- Elijah Wood - Patrick
Credit
David Stein - Art Director, Michael A. Jackman - Associate Producer, Linda Fields - Associate Producer, Melissa Fields Hill - Associate Producer, Tommy Louie - Boom Operator, Jeanne McCarthy - Casting, Blythe Cappello - Casting, Mlanie Larue - Casting, Stéphane Loiselle - Casting, Jeanne MCarthy - Casting, Melissa Toth - Costume Designer, David Page - Costume Designer, Michael Hausman - First Assistant Director, Michel Gondry - Director, Valdís Óskarsdóttir - Editor, James Haygood - Editor, Paul Zucker - Editor, David L. Bushell - Executive Producer, Charlie Kaufman - Executive Producer, Glenn Williamson - Executive Producer, Georges Bermann - Executive Producer, Peter Owen - Hair Styles, Noriko Watanabe - Hair Styles, Francesca Paris - Hair Styles, Gayle Vangrofsky - Location Manager, Jon Brion - Composer (Music Score), Peter Gordon - Musical Arrangement, Steve Bartek - Musical Arrangement, Edgardo Simone - Musical Arrangement, Pierre-Simon Lebrun-Caput - Musical Arrangement, Allen Weisinger - Makeup, Noriko Watanabe - Makeup, Chris Norr - Camera Operator, Peter Agliata - Camera Operator, Mark Schmidt - Camera Operator, Dan Leigh - Production Designer, Ellen Kuras - Cinematographer, Steve Golin - Producer, Anthony Bregman - Producer, Reed Rudy - Recording, Tom Biller - Recording, Jason Gossman - Recording, Steven Rhodes - Recording, Patrick Spain - Recording, Dana Bourke - Recording, Chris Holmes - Recording, Ron Von Blomberg - Set Designer, Mark Bero - Special Effects, Thomas Viviano - Special Effects, Thomas Nelson - Sound Mixer, Eugene Gearty - Sound/Sound Designer, Thomas Belson - Sound/Sound Designer, Danny Aiello III - Stunts, Billy Anagnos - Stunts, Artie Malesci - Stunts, Mike Russo - Stunts, Peewee Piemonte - Stunts, E.J. Evans - Stunts, Stephanie Finochio - Stunts, Stephen Pope - Stunts, John Favre - Stunts, Cort Hessler III - Stunts, Brian Smyj - Stunts Coordinator, David L. Bushell - Unit Production Manager, Charlie Kaufman - Screen Story, Michel Gondry - Screen Story, Pierre Bismuth - Screen Story, Charlie Kaufman - Screenwriter, Pierre Bismuth - Screenwriter, Ben Conable - Production Assistant, Nick Bell - Production Assistant, Noah Fox - Production Assistant, Cynthia Kao - Production Assistant, Matthew G. King - Production Assistant, Alison Norod - Production Assistant, David Catalano - Production Assistant, Tracy Ershow - Production Assistant, Andrew Goodman - Production Assistant, Kate Karbowniczek - Production Assistant, David Koch - Production Assistant, Gary S. Rake - Production Assistant, Debbie Stampfle - Production Assistant, Mark Dornfeld - Visual Effects Supervisor, Louis Morin - Visual Effects Supervisor, Paul Urmson - Special Effects Editor, Frances Fiore - Unit Publicist, David A. Smith - Additional Editing, Jeffrey M. Werner - Additional Editing, Alexandre LaFortune - CGI Effects, François Lord - CGI Effects, Martin Pelletier - CGI Effects, Glenn Silver - CGI Effects, Gabriel Tremblay - CGI Effects, Carlos Omar Guerra - First Assistant Camera, Stanley Fernandez Jr. - First Assistant Camera, John Nadeau - Gaffer, Josephine Quirk - Gaffer, Tony Campenni - Grip, Alison Barton - Grip, Mel Cannon - Grip, Bob Andres - Key Grip, Jack Panuccio - Key Grip, Jonathan Graham - Key Grip, Zbigniew Kouros - Key Grip, James Boniece - Key Grip, Anastassios Filipos - Music Editor, Michael A. Jackman - Post Production Supervisor, Erica Kay - Production Coordinator, Morgan Pitts - Properties, Kevin Ladson - Properties Master, Eugene Gearty - Re-Recording Mixer, Reilly Steele - Re-Recording Mixer, Mary Cybulski - Script Supervisor, Scott Ferguson - Second Assistant Director, Drew Jiritano - Special Effects Coordinator, David C. Lee - Still Photographer, Philip Stockton - Supervising Sound Editor, Michele Ferrone - Visual Effects Producer, Merissa Littlefield - ADR Editor, Scott P. Murphy - Assistant Art Director, Kim Hinju - Assistant Art Director, Jill Kliber - Assistant Costume Designer, Christopher Marsh - Assistant Location Manager, Currie Person - Assistant Location Manager, Dan Tresca - Assistant Location Manager, Kat Donahue - Assistant Location Manager, Christian Brockey - Assistant Production Coordinator, R. Vincent Smith - Assistant Properties, Chris Fielder - Assistant Sound Editor, Larry Wineland - Assistant Sound Editor, Mark Summers - Best Boy Electric, Martin Nowlan - Best Boy Electric, Chris Skutch - Best Boy Grip, Richard Yacuk - Best Boy Grip, Angela Bellisio - Camera Loader, John Srednicki - Casting Assistant, Sage Lehman - Casting Assistant, Linda Chen - Casting Assistant, Natasha Cuba - Casting Associate, Nicholas R. Miller - Construction Coordinator, Brent Haywood - Construction Coordinator, Fred Rosenberg - Dialogue Editor, Lamont Crawford - Dolly Grip, Andrea Cronin-Souza - Electrician, Grant Wilfley Casting Incorporated - Extra Casting, Marko A. Costanzo - Foley Artist, Jay Peck - Foley Artist, Steven Visscher - Foley Editor, Kam Chan - Foley Editor, D. Michelle Johnson - Key Hairstylist, Kyra Panchenko - Key Make-up, Mike Leather - Leadman, Ruth Pollak - Personal Assistant, Stephanie DeTiege - Personal Assistant, Amro Hamzawi - Personal Assistant, Adrian Scartascini - Personal Assistant, Arthur Hur - Personal Assistant, Oona Overholtzer - Personal Assistant, Chris Prapha - Personal Assistant, Stefanie Azpiazu - Personal Assistant, Jeff Schlesinger - Personal Assistant, Bobb Bruno - Personal Assistant, Angela Beresford - Post Production Assistant, Katrina Whalen - Post Production Assistant, Andy Wheeler - Production Accountant, Julius Kozlowski - Scenic Artist, James Donahue - Scenic Artist, Elizabeth Bonaventura - Scenic Artist, Garf Brown - Scenic Artist, Mark Lane-Davies - Scenic Artist, Emily Gaunt - Scenic Artist, Braden Belmonte - Second Assistant Camera, Christopher Raymond - Second Assistant Camera, Peter Thorell - Second Second Assistant Director, Scott Gagnon - Set Dresser, Roman Greller - Set Dresser, John Roche - Set Dresser, Ruth A. Deleon - Set Dresser, Brian Buteau - Set Dresser, Buzz Image Group - Visual Effects, Custom Film Effects - Visual Effects, Natalie N. Dorset - Set Decorator, Kenny Becker - Color Timing, James F. Kelly - Driver, Peter Clores - Driver, Jerry McMullan - Driver, Herb Lieberz - Driver, Edward Battista - Driver, John Canavan - Driver, Charles Clark - Driver, Thomas Crehan - Driver, Moe Fitzgerald - Driver, Joseph L. Johnson - Driver, Dennis J. Kelly - Driver, Scott Lieberz - Driver, Tom Moyer - Driver, David Salisbury - Driver, Francis Volpe - Driver, Theodore A. Brown - Driver, Salvatore Ciccone - Driver, Jerry Featherstone - Driver, William Gore Jr. - Driver, Paul Kane - Driver, Robert Marsh - Driver, Richard Nelson Jr. - Driver, William T. Stuart - Driver, Timothy Wood - Driver, George A. Lara - Foley Mixer, Samuel Chase - Generator Operator, Philip DeRise - Production Secretary, Richard Fellegara - Set Medic/First Aid, Kathy Fellegara - Set Medic/First Aid, Addy McClelland - Art Department Coordinator| Eternal Summer (1961 Film), Eternal Summer (2006 Film) | |
| Eternally Yours (1939 Film), Eternamente Pagu (1989 Film) |
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